The present invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus combined with a handset with high portability.
When a so-called videophone function or the like is to be equipped in a communication terminal apparatus such as a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), portable terminal (cordless telephone), or the like that uses radio waves, a camera and display device are required, and its housing inevitably becomes larger than a terminal with a telephone function alone. For this reason, a radio communication terminal with a videophone function has poor portability and storability, and is not easy to use.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide a communication terminal apparatus whose portability and storability do not deteriorate even when it has a videophone function or the like.
According to the present invention, a communication terminal system in which one communication terminal is constructed by at least first and second housings, is characterized in that the first housing comprises radio communication means for making a communication with another communication terminal by radio, and first communication means for making a communication with a housing other than the first housing, the second housing comprises second communication means for making a communication with a housing other than the second housing, and the first housing can make a video communication including at least a moving image and/or still image with another communication terminal, the second housing can make at least a voice communication with the other communication terminal, or the first housing can make at least a voice communication with another communication terminal, and the second housing can make a video communication including at least the moving image and/or still image with another terminal.
With this communication terminal system, the housing that is capable of voice communications alone is small by limiting its functions, and can be stored in, e.g., a pocket. Also, upon reception of an incoming call, this housing allows the user to immediately go off-hook. Even upon reception of a videophone communication request, the user goes off-hook using the housing that is capable of voice communications alone, and can switch the communication mode to a video/voice communication mode using the housing that is capable of video/voice communications. Hence, even a communication terminal having a videophone function can comprise a video input/output function without impairing its portability and storability.
According to the present invention, a communication terminal apparatus comprises display means for displaying information, scroll direction input means for inputting a scroll direction of information to be displayed on the display means, operation direction detection means for detecting an operation direction of the screen scroll direction input means, and display control means for, when the operation direction is a first operation direction and the information scroll direction is a first screen scroll direction, making a display in a first order, when the operation direction is the first operation direction and the information scroll direction is a second screen scroll direction, making a display in a second order, when the operation direction is a second operation direction and the information scroll direction is the first screen scroll direction, making a display in the first order, and when the operation direction is the second operation direction and the information scroll direction is the second screen scroll direction, making a display in the second order.
According to this communication terminal apparatus, the operation direction detection means can detect whether the screen scroll direction input means is operated from, e.g., right or left direction, and the display control means can scroll the screen in correspondence with the detected operation direction. For this reason, even when the user operates the terminal apparatus while holding it with a hand, very easy operation is assured.
According to the present invention, a video communication system constructed by interconnecting a video transmission terminal having at least one video input means and video transmission means, and a video reception terminal having at least one video display means and video reception means via a radio communication network or wired communication network, comprises terminal holding direction detection means for detecting a holding direction of the video reception terminal, sending means for sending information indicating the holding direction of the video reception terminal detected by the terminal holding direction detection means to the video transmission terminal, and processing means for processing a video to be transmitted by the video transmission means on the basis of the holding direction information of the video transmission terminal sent from the sending means.
According to this video communication system, the terminal holding direction detection means detects the holding state of the terminal, and the detected holding state is exchanged between terminals via the communication means. Based on a comparison result of the exchanged holding state information by the comparison means, if the directions of the two terminals do not agree with each other, the processing means processes the displayed image to match the video display directions. Hence, even when the terminal holding directions of the users do not match at the transmitting and receiving sides, images displayed on the two terminals can be prevented from horizontally or vertically inverted.